What Are You Doing Tonight?
My thoughts after curating New York events every week for the last year.
We’ve all seen the photo that sums up the summer energy in NYC: some guy projecting the Knicks’ game onto the side of a building, and a crowd of strangers cheering at the wall. You could pay thousands to be in MSG, but getting out on the streets is free, and way more fun. In the hundreds of events I sift through during my weekly curation, this is a trend I keep noticing. The most alive gatherings in New York right now aren’t the expensive, produced ones. They’re the DIY ones that get people out of their apartments.
Anything can be a gathering
Look-alike contests aside, the hottest event in town might be smoking a cigarette together in Washington Square Park or a literary reading in a bathhouse. At times, these discordant pairings feel like somebody has spun two wheels and concocted a random event. As these events get more absurd, I keep thinking about the way "primitive" furniture and surrealist fashion photography (à la Szilveszter Makó) are showing up everywhere in design right now. It’s part of a broader response to the rise of AI — we’re craving anything non-formulaic or imprinted with human touch. The same goes for the way we socialize.
These one-off events are novel and make for a fun story when someone asks you what you did that weekend, but alone they don’t build a fulfilling social calendar. Instead, the most engaging events are the ones where you share part of yourself or leave with plans to come back.
The best event in NYC might be three blocks away
I admire my friends who traverse multiple boroughs for an after-work gathering. I’m not built like that, and I suspect a lot of us aren’t — which is exactly why the neighborhood gathering keeps winning. Fort Greene Walking Club and Crown Heights Walking Club were started in the last couple months and I love the concept because it really can be that simple!! Get outside, meet your neighbors.
Post-pandemic, we were all about hosting elaborate dinner parties. These days, it feels like there are hardly enough hours in a week so casual hangouts are a blessing. The simplicity of the event lets us focus more on being present: these types of gatherings meet us where we are on a weekday evening (figuratively and quite literally), and they occur at a recurring time (typically earlier in the week) so we’re likely to see the same faces.
Neighborhood businesses are catching on too. We have the privilege of thousands of cafes and bars and restaurants here — so how does a small place keep people coming back? Programming: film screenings, game nights, lectures at the mom-and-pop shop. To find what's happening on your specific block, check in with your local small businesses, follow a neighborhood Substack, or ask the field notes community.
The compounding effect
A spectacle is buzzy because it happens once, but a gathering you can reproduce turns its guests into its next hosts. Green Tile Social Club and Pawn Chess Club are a couple examples of event hosts that have popularized social game-playing. Bring in a DJ, make it a meet cute, and suddenly it’s a night out. These events can sell out, but their popularity has inspired new organizers to come into the space and host, so there’s always enough game playing to go around.
Thanks to pandemic lockdowns, in a couple of years I've accumulated crochet hooks, knitting needles, a sewing machine, air-dry clay, and watercolors. Even though I’m still limited to knitting rectangular patterns, I can say that I’ve learned something new and am inspired to tackle more challenging projects. The world of crafting is so vast, so we’re finding new outlets to dabble in now that knitting clubs and collaging workshops are commonplace. I love that we’re going further and further down the rabbit hole — cyanotyping, metalworking and Armenian needlelace just to name a few.
Showing up
The events that stick are the ones that ask something of you, and give something back because of it. Whether it’s the endorphins from getting off the couch for a walk on Monday evening, a new skill from trying a finicky craft or getting to know your community by volunteering, there’s certainly no shortage of things to do!
Thank you to everyone who is organizing events for their communities 💐💐💐.
It can be scary starting off and not knowing if anyone else will show up, and there’s a lot of unglamorous behind-the-scenes logistical work.
A couple questions to close with:
Are you part of a social group you love or a regular at an event series?
What are some of the best gatherings you’ve been to?